Jared Rickel
|birth_place = Garden City, MI |career_start = 1998 }} Jared Stephan Rickel (born September 21, 1984 in Garden City, Michigan) is an American ice hockey defenseman.He is son to defenseman and coaching great Jeff Rickel, younger brother to Damon Rickel, and older brother to up-and-comer Jesse Bargo. The Early Days Jared grew up around hockey, whether it be watching his dad play, or playing himself with the neighbors.Beginning as a goaltender, Jared developed the awareness that would eventually reward those around him.In 1993, Jared got his first chance to shine when the Monroe Tigers called him up from the minors to play, as a forward, in the Wayne-Westland District Floor Hockey Playoffs.The stat sheets have been lost in time so no personal stats are available.Jared accepted the 2-yr contract and help Monroe make the finals for two consecutive years, going all the way in 95.At the start of the 95-96 season the WWFHL disbanded. In 1996, Jared became more interested with ice hockey.Like all young players, Jared began as the water-boy/stinky jock-strap collector for the IJWHL (Inkster JW Hockey League).While there, Jared met some of hockey’s great. The Inskter Era During the 1997-98 season, Jared was drafted by Commish Houle, to play for Inkster.He was immediately sent to the minors for conditioning.Midway through the season, Jared was called up to play with the big boys.During his first game, “Big Ben” Rickel laid Jared out and chuckled while skating away. In 1998, Jared donned the infamous Atlanta Thrashers jersey.With a new look, Jared decided to change his style of play.He molded himself into net-crashing, goaltending instigator, “not-afraid-of-puck” forward. He planted himself in front of the net, accepting punishment as it came. Over the years, Jared excelled at grinding out goals, stuffing them in the net, along with the occasional “kick” in.Soon he realized this isn’t the position for him.He decided to accept the family legacy and fall back to defense.There, with the guidance of Dave Hamilton and Dan DeCarlo, Jared learned proper positioning and the art of hitting.His first major was on Matt Wiseman, with a picture-perfect shoulder-to-shoulder hit causing Wiseman to spiral away from the puck.Jared was a part the 2000 IJWHL All-Star team, and participated in the Hardest Shot Competition.Jared’s shot was clocked at a monsterous 46 mph, sometimes referred to as “the shot heard round the world”.He also played in the IJWHL playoffs for three consecutive years, being part of the championship team in 2001. Sadly, 2004 brought the end of an era, after financial turmoil, the IJWHL closed its doors. New Faces After the shutdown of the IJWHL, many players dispersed to other leagues.Jared, along with others was accepted as free agents in the MJWHL (Melvindale JW Hockey League).Over the years Jared has flourished into a Top-10 defenseman.He is known for ultra-clean hitting and his positioning.Jared has also excelled enough to be drafted in the MJWHL Playoffs for all three years.In 2009, Jared was drafted 7th round, 31st overall by Chris Vincent to play in the 2009 Spring Classic. Pond Hockey?!? During the 2007-08 season, Jared, along with Damon Rickel, Mike Donaldson, Juan Rosado, Arroll Krumpelman, and Chad Schaefer, played for the newly formed expansion team, “the Motor City Mugs”.They traveled to the Upper Peninsula to participate in the 1st Annual Labatt Blue Pond Hockey Championship.“It reminded me of the old Inkster ice” said Jared.Other than the close comradery formed, Jared seemed to learn a few things.Skating on the rough, vase regions of Lake Huron helped fine tune Jared’s skating and drinking Labatt Blues while playing, as delicious as they may be, doesn’t make you play better.In 2009, Jared and the Mugs were shafted out of the division finals by shaky call ruling a tie, thus bumping them out.He looks forward to the 2010 season. Fun Facts *Jared was named after Detroit Red Wings goaltending great Greg Stefan. *Growing up Jared was a fan Curtis Joesph finally getting to meet him in 1993. *Although hes proud of all his scars, the one he particularly likes the most is one his nose.This occurred while Jared breaking through the center ice area, he was bombarded by Damon Rickel, Ben Rickel, Brett Rickel, and Danny Herbst.During the scuffle, somebody’s stick lifted up and struck Jared in the face.